The request was voted on during the opening of the work of the Permanent Commission this afternoon and was unanimously approved.
Pope Francis passed away on Monday at the age of 88, after a pontificate lasting 12 years.
During the terms of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Pope Francis visited Portugal twice: first for an apostolic visit on the occasion of the centenary of Fátima in May 2017, an event attended by the President of the Republic, a Catholic, “as a pilgrim,” and then for the World Youth Day in August 2023.
The current head of state traveled to the Vatican three times, selecting it as the first destination of his foreign visits at the beginning of each term, in March 2016 and 2021. He returned in January 2023 for the funeral of the emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.
